Round 9 Balmain 6.7.2019

Balmain bought up under two teams and after seconds had slaughtered them most of the crowd at Lapstone Oval sensed another thrashing,but after 15 minutes it was 14 all and the muzzled Wolves were trying their guts out,trying but failed to get Nicko into a stink in his comeback game in the opening minutes,however,the Blues put the foot down eventually and ran away with proceedings to win 63-40,hard to believe that there were 15 tries scored in the match,so defence certainly wasnt a high point in either teams game plans.The positive side of that situation is that there was plenty of entertaining Rugby and memories to take away,the return of Sai,Krolly converting all nine touchdowns,some great tries,and of course Steve Lenoci was in sensational touch in all facets of the game,and was a special for man of the match honours.So now the Blueys go into a third vs 4th clash at Lappo under lights Saturday against Petersham ten points in front of their opponents,and a rock solid semi final spot in Kentwell is at their mercy when they win.

Seconds had the old timers heading for the record books as the racked up a huge 89-7 win over cellars dwellers Balmain.While they didnt beat the 90-0 record,they still turned on a great show of exlposive Rugby to run riot scoring 13 tries and sneaking their way back into the top four along the way.There were stars allover the paddock against an outclassed opposition,out wide man of the match Maifele Mapuilesua created havoc in both attack and defence,while once again Brad Kenny was in brilliant touch,and James Richey only just failed to beat the clubs individual scoring record in a game with a swag of points.

What a frustrating game thirds proved to be just getting home 29-26 against last placed Balmain to also sneak back into the top four.There were excuses,the man in the middle hammered us the whole game and they bought on four first graders at halftime,but the Mountain men should have put them out of their mysery early on they were just so dominant,especially up front.But far too much disrespect for the ball trying to score of every move,rush things ,and ignoring good structure and discipline,meant they almost paid the price in the second half when the tide really turned in the way of the visitors.Still the quality is there,no doubt they were the better team,while the big positive was the brilliant skills of Will Healey who made his Lapstone Oval return, and did everything one would expect from a player of his class and pedigree,some big games ahead for this team.